Mrs. Timm's Classroom

     This week in Social Studies, we have begun studying inventors and their inventions.  First, we discussed how things are different today than they were 100 years ago at home, in school, and in towns/cities.  We talked about how inventors made it possible for those changes to happen.  We also read about a few inventors such as George Washington Carver, Benjamin Franklin, and Albert Einstein.  George Washington Carver created 300 inventions using peanuts.  Benjamin Franklin is most famous for his kite and electricity experiment although he also invented spectacles, a musical instrument, a step ladder that turns into a chair, and the chair with the desk attached to the right arm.  (We still use those in high schools today!)  We are still reading about Albert Einstein, his childhood, his curiosity, and the marvelous accomplishments that came from him.  We will continue our study of inventors next week.

This week we have been working on Mother’s Day gifts.  We hope you enjoy them!  We wrote about what makes our mothers special.  We discussed things we can do for our mothers as gifts that are not wrapped in a box.  Then, we made certificates/coupons to do those things for our mothers.  We listed adjectives describing our mothers and used those adjectives to create shape poems.  We gathered all of our writing in a folder and prepared it as a gift.  To top it off, we are bringing home pictures from the beginning of the year.  How much we have grown!  We love you, Moms!

This week we have been reading books written by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin.  They have written a number of  fun titles such as Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type, Click Clack Quackity Quack, Click Clack Splish Splash, Dooby Dooby Moo, Thump Quack Moo, and Giggle Giggle Quack.  The students have enjoyed the adventures of Duck, the Cows, the Sheep, the Pigs, the Chickens, the Mice,  Farmer Brown, Bob, and other fun characters on the farm.  We have been working hard on our listening and comprehension skills with these stories. 

We finished our study of frogs and ponds in the Science Lab this week.  Then, we began discussing Mother’s Day, what it means, things we do, and ways we can show our mothers we love them.  We brainstormed a list of adjectives to describe our mothers, and we will be using those adjectives in poems next week.  Through our writing and creativity, we will show just how special our mothers are to us. 

During Math, we have finished our study of three dimensional and two dimensional shapes.  The students have enjoyed learning about the attributes of different shapes such as the sphere, cylinder, cube, pyramid, rectangular prism, triangular prism, cone, circle, square, rectangle, triangle, hexagon, and rhombus (diamond).  Some of the attributes we studied include corners, faces, and sides.  The students enjoyed finding objects in the classroom that resemble each shape. 

Grandparents’ Day will be next Friday, May 7, 2010, for the Kindergartners.  First and second grade will be eating lunch out on the playground in order to keep the cafeteria free for the Kindergarten program.  We will be having a picnic with hot dogs.  If your child does not like hot dogs, please make sure he/she packs a lunch and a drink for next Friday, May 7, 2010.

Our Author’s Tea was a great success!  Thank you to all the parents who came!  The students all worked hard planning, writing, revising, editing, and publishing their stories.  They were very excited to share their creations with you.  Thank you for helping the students see how they are and can continue to be authors.  We hope you enjoyed the cookies and punch.  Thank you, Pam, for arranging all of the details for us! 

Next week, we will conclude our Science study on Frogs and Ponds in the Science Lab.  The students have been completing hands-on activities about the life cycle of a frog.  After our last day in the Science Lab, we will begin discussing and preparing for Mother’s Day.  Shhh!  It’s a surprise! 

Next week the Intermediate grades will be taking TAKS tests, so we will be doing our best to be quiet.  We will have recess on the track and silent lunch for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Other than that, we need to be extra quiet in our classrooms. 

Thank you for all your help and support.  Have a great weekend!

p.s.  Don’t forget to check out our pictures!

Our Honesty Assembly went very well!  Thank you to the parents who came, who made sure your child made it to school on time, and who provided sunglasses for our little rap.  It was a success due to your child’s hard work and dedication and due to your help and support.  Thank you!  Please visit our new website featuring pictures of our Honesty Assembly.  You will find the link below and to the right under Blogroll.  Please enjoy viewing the pictures, and, if you wish, I believe you have the option of ordering prints through shutterfly.  Thank you once again!

(Please also visit our new website featuring pictures from our Texas Readers’ Theater.  I know this is late in coming, but please enjoy!  You will find the link below and to the right under Blogroll.)

     Coming up this week is our class CHAMPS Assembly!  We will be performing a little skit and rap about Honesty.  The assembly will be held this Friday, April 16, 2010, at 8:00am sharp!  Please have your child at school ready to go by 7:50am, before the assembly begins.  Please also make sure your child brings sunglasses to wear for our rap.  We hope the other primary grades will learn what it means to be honest (always tell the truth, never cheat, never steal) from our presentation.  You are welcome to come to the cafeteria to watch your child perform in our assembly.  It will begin at 8:00am and end at approximately 8:30am.  We hope to see you there!

This week we began selecting and writing/rewriting our Author’s Tea Stories.  We will continue to write, revise, edit, and publish our stories for the next few weeks.  We will also practice reading our stories aloud to the class in preparation for the big day.  Author’s Tea will be held on Friday, April 23, 2010.  This is a time for parents to come and listen to the students read their stories aloud.  We are celebrating the wonderful authors your children have become!  Please join us.  More details coming soon. 

Our Easter Egg Hunt was a success!  Thank you to all the parents who helped and made it such a special day for the kids.  We found all the eggs and we ate some delicious treats!  Have a great three day weekend!  No School Friday, April 2, 2010!

We have been writing about what we did over Spring Break…and it sounds like we had lots of fun!  Now that we’re back, we are working hard to master the steps in the writing process (plan, write, revise, edit, publish) as we relate our adventures during our week off. 

We also revisited ABC order this week.  We listed topics we would like to learn more about, and we listed the different resources available to us.  Then, we learned how to look up those topics in one of our resources, a dictionary, using the first, second, third, etc., letters in a word. 

During math, we began diving into money!  We started adding pennies and nickels together to reach certain prices.  We also counted pennies and nickels to find out how much a certain product might cost.  We have been skip counting by fives and counting by ones to help our problem-solving skills. 

Next week will be our Easter Party!  We will have an Easter Egg Hunt at 1:15pm.  Parents, you may come early, around 12:30pm, to hide the eggs while the students are in Music.  After the hunt, Stefanie McClurg, our room mom, will have some snacks/games for the kids.  Please have your child bring in his/her eggs, numbered 1 through 12 and already filled, starting next Monday, March 29th.  Please feel free to take your child home as soon as the party is nearing an end.  Remember…no school on Friday.  It’s Good Friday! 

See you next week!

Our first grade 2010 Reader’s Theater, “Texas Our Texas,” was a great success!  Thank you to each parent who helped the students practice and who made it possible for the students to be there Thursday night.  The students really enjoyed learning about Texas and practicing on stage.  They shone like Texas stars Thursday night and Friday morning all dressed up in their cowboy/cowgirl attire.  It was a beautiful sight to see.  Check out the first grade teachers’ blogs in the near future to see pictures. 

Next week is our Spring Break.  School will begin again on Monday, March 22, 2010.  Please enjoy your break.  We all hope to come back refreshed and ready to learn!  Now that we’ve finished our study of Texas, we will be studying many new topics like Easter, Spring, Frogs, Ponds, the Life Cycle, Rocks, and more.  We will continue or letter-writing and story-composing in writing, and we will begin studying money in math.  Keep working on those spelling words!  We have to reach 100 before the end of the year.  That’s all for now.  Tune in next time to find out more about our Easter Party!

This past week we have been learning about our great state of Texas.  We have also been working hard on stage rehearsing for our Texas Reader’s Theater!  Come hear what we’ve learned about Texas!  We will be performing this coming Thursday evening in the cafeteria at 6:30pm.  We will perform again Friday morning in the cafeteria at 9:30am.  We will be dressing “Texan”…cowboy hats, cowboy boots, jeans, and red/white/blue tops.  If your daughter wishes to wear a jean skirt, please make sure she wears leggings or shorts underneath.  The students have worked hard learning their parts and have enjoyed hearing other students’ parts.  They have also enjoyed learning about special songs, state symbols, cities, and important people in Texas.  We hope you enjoy it, too!